The extent to which a student took part in such outside activities varied greatly, and even from year to year. There was no strict requirement that a student take part in any outside activity, no "credits" were given, nor was there payment for part in the Work Program (in the form of scholarship aid, for example, as in some colleges). On the other hand, students came eager for taking part in the college life, and so the freedom was relished and at the same time resulted in much enthusiastic participation. A student who was drafted to take part in a play could, of course, refuse, but almost all at least tried it out once.

Other significant outside classroom events included the many visitors who came to perform, to hear what was going on, to stay for two or three days or a week or months even. The informal association with such visitors gave students an experience not to be duplicated elsewhere. Students also had a wealth of informal interchanges with faculty, including those with whom they did not take courses.

Two of the former students comment on the "interlude," a period of some days suddenly declared, during which time all unusual activities and classes were suspended. students (and faculty) were expected to somehow make special use of this time, thought were not held to account to talk about what they did. For new students especially, used to the regime of high school classes and exams, such free time was a challenge, to discover what one might want to do.

The Work Program, interestingly, was probably more written about by the former students than any one other topic. Most found it of value, some cherished it as a sphere in which they functioned better than in academic work. The range of work was considerable, starting with the early years in which farm work helped feed the college and ending up later on with the quite different work involved in helping build the new college at Lake Eden.

Robert Sunley